Leading shares are heading higher after Tuesday’s dip, but have not yet scaled new peaks.

Housebuilders are among the main gainers after positive results from Bellway, up 94p at £20.98. The company reported a 53% rise in first half profits to £158.9m and hoiked its dividend by 56% to 25p a share.

It said demand remained strong throughout the country, with a return to the more normal selling pattern of a strong autumn and a slowdown over the winter. The government’s Help to Buy scheme continued to support the market, but Bellway noted a slowdown in the rate of growth of house prices. It said:

This creates a more sustainable outlook, especially in the London boroughs, where demand for Bellway product remains strong.

From the end of the first half on 31 January, to 8 March reservations were up 10.1% on the same period last year, with a record order book of £1.1bn. It said:

The strength of the spring selling season and the effect of the general election in May will, in part, determine the rate of growth of the business in the second half. However this strong forward sales position should enable the group to achieve volume growth in excess of 10% in the current financial year.

Rachael Applegate at Panmure Gordon said:

Bellway has issued a positive set of interim results, broadly in line with expectations. The group has also reported a positive start to the full-year and with guidance for the full we maintain our full-year estimates, though our dividend expectation will rise modestly. With the group continuing to perform well, and the shares continuing to trade at a small discount to the sector, we maintain our Buy recommendation.

Chris Millington at Numis was also positive:

Bellway’s results are slightly ahead of expectations, and whilst we are leaving estimates unchanged we have increasing confidence over 2015 and 2016 estimates given the strength of the order book and current trading. We retain our buy rating and argue Bellway is very well placed to grow volumes in a risk averse manner.

The positive statement has lifted the rest of the sector, with Taylor Wimpey up 3.4p at 160p, Barratt Developments 10p better at 552p and Redow rising 12.6p to 357p.

Overall the FTSE 100 is up 3.38 points at 7023.06, as investors await news about the Greek situation as well as anticipating US durable goods figures later which could give further clues to the direction of the country’s interest rates. Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said:

The big number to watch today is going to be US durable goods data – the focus right now is very much on whether the US economy is going to see a rapid acceleration towards the summer which will necessitate quick rate hikes from the Fed. So far the market is betting against this so any change in opinion here could see a reversal out of equities.

Elsewhere Tui is up 42p at £12.25 after a positive trading update, while Balfour Beatty is 13.7p better at 244.9p despite a full year loss, with impairment charges less than the market had expected.

Moneysupermarket has dropped 16.4p or nearly 6% to 269.6p after founder Simon Nixon scrapped a planned sale of around £100m worth of shares less than a day after announcing it.